World Music CD Reviews World Fusion

The mad geniuses at Brooklyn’s Daptone Records are at it again, with a fresh injection of outer-borough funk. This time around it’s the Budos Band, an 11-piece outfit from Staten Island, that brings the noise, with a smooth, downtempo groove that owes as much to vintage Latin soul and R&B from the ’70s as it does to Afrobeat or Afro-funk. But that isn’t surprising for a band whose members grew up sneaking into the backdoor of the No Moore Club to hear Antibalas play back in the day. The band’s self-titled debut boasts 11 instrumental tracks of retro-soul cool. “Up From The South” kicks things off with a moody, slow-building scorcher that’s all surging horns, chugging organ and wah-wah guitar over a fiercely bubbling rhythm section. “Ghost Walk,” “Budos Theme” and “Sing A Simple Song” are all funky boogaloo breakdowns that sound like outtakes from one of the funkiest blaxploitation soundtracks never made.